MANILA, Philippines — New Zealand is providing $25 million to support a program being implemented by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help Southeast Asian countries shift to clean energy.
In a statement, the multilateral lender said the government of New Zealand has committed $25 million to the Energy Transition Mechanism Partnership Trust Fund (ETMPTF) to support the move toward clean and sustainable energy in Southeast Asia.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made the commitment for the program during meetings held at ADB’s headquarters in Manila.
“We are grateful for this support from the government of New Zealand for the ETMPTF, which is an important driver of the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) program,” ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa said.
Established in June 2022, the ETMPTF pools concessional funds from financing partners to be used for the conduct of feasibility studies for projects in line with ETM’s objectives including the early retirement or repurposing of coal and other fossil fuel plants and clean energy ventures.
The program aims to use concessional and market-based funds to accelerate retirement or repurposing of existing coal and other fossil fuel power plants and move to clean power.
This initiative is expected to help Asia and the Pacific mitigate the impacts of climate change such as extreme sea level rise and destructive weather events.
Southeast Asian countries participating in the ETM pilot are the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“As the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific, we believe ETM has the potential to be one of the largest carbon reduction programs in the world and a vital tool in the battle against climate change,” Asakawa said.
As ADB expands the ETM across the region, he said it is important to get support from partners such as New Zealand.
New Zealand’s support to the ETMPTF is the third contribution to the fund following those provided by Japan and Germany.
“New Zealand’s contribution to the ETM supports Southeast Asia’s ambition for an accelerated transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, while ensuring this transformation is fair and equitable,” Luxon said.